Science guy speaks about environment

Penn State students brought their love of body painting to Rec Hall last night, but instead of rooting for the football team they rooted for the night's speaker by painting "Science Rules!" on their bodies.

Mechanical engineer and former host of the PBS show Bill Nye the Science Guy, Bill Nye arrived to the stage via Segway and spoke to students about the environment and how they can make a difference.

The line of students waiting for the event wrapped around the building and extended down Atherton Street.

Kip Totten (senior-agriculture and biology engineering) was near the front of the line and said Nye's familiarity is what drew so many people to the event.

"I used to watch him all the time," he said. "Kids can relate to him."

Jamie Zackavitch (junior-recreation, park and tourism management) said she never watched Bill Nye as a child because she didn't have television.

"Now I'm going to get in the know," she said.

The environmental forum was sponsored by Penn State's Finance & Business Environmental Stewardship Key Initiative Team and the Take Charge Program.

UPUA President Gavin Keirans, Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims and numerous representatives from Penn State conservation groups presented ecologically-friendly ideas to an increasingly impatient crowd in the nearly packed Rec Hall before Nye.

Demonstrations included stationary bikes designed to show how much effort is needed to produce energy, a student-produced video called "CO2 and You" to show the average student's ecological footprint and a pyramid of paper cups that exemplified the amount of waste each student can avoid by using a reusable mug. Ecologically-friendly prizes, such as bikes, were also raffled.

Nye took the stage last and spoke about the solar system and discussed his recent NASA work with martian sundials, atmospheric differences between Earth and Mars, and how small we all are in comparison to the rest of the universe.

"I'm a speck, on a speck, orbiting a speck in the middle of specklessness," Nye said.

He capped his lecture with discussion about climate change.

"The world has never gotten this warm this fast," he said. "The world is going to change; it's just a matter of how we can manage it."

Nye discussed how to improve energy efficiency in the home with better insulation and solar panels, adding that his own electric bill is about $7 per month.

Nye also implored students to invent more efficient batteries, power adapters and cars.

"You can change the world!" he said.

Members of Power Vote, a non-partisan organization aimed at getting students to vote for clean energy in the upcoming election, collected voting pledges from people in line before the event.

Many students brought plastic bags with them that they were able to exchange for reusable bags. Both the bags and reusable water bottles were distributed to everyone attending.

Tags: environment